Free Usenet HERE
What is Usenet Why Use it?
How Usenet Works HERE
Why people prefer Usenet?
Usenet stands for "user's network", and is sometimes
called just "newsgroups". Usenet newsgroups are thousands of virtual bulletin
boards on a wide range of different subjects available around the world. Anyone with
access to the Internet can post a message to any newsgroup, read any message, and post a
response to any message, making the Usenet a unique global common space covering a wide
range of subjects.
The Usenet is an especially useful place to search for the answer to a question, since so
many questions are asked and answered there. It is also particularly useful when looking
for information about late-breaking or non-mainstream subjects likely to be part of the
popular conversation.
What are you looking for on Usenet? It really doesn't matter
because, chances are, you'll find it on Usenet.
The major set of worldwide newsgroups is contained within nine hierarchies, eight of which
are operated under consensual guidelines that govern their administration and naming. The
current "Big Eight" are:
•comp.*: computer-related discussions (comp.software,
comp.sys.amiga)
•humanities.*: Fine arts, literature, and philosophy
(humanities.classics, humanities.design.misc)
•misc.*: Miscellaneous topics (misc.education, misc.forsale,
misc.kids)
•news.*: Discussions and announcements about news (meaning Usenet,
not current events) (news.groups, news.admin)
•rec.*: Recreation and entertainment (rec.music, rec.arts.movies)
•sci.*: Science related discussions (sci.psychology, sci.research)
•soc.*: Social discussions (soc.college.org, soc.culture.african)
•talk.*: Talk about various controversial topics (talk.religion,
talk.politics, talk.origins)
The alt.* hierarchy is not subject to the procedures controlling groups
in the Big Eight, and it is as a result less organized. However, groups in the alt.*
hierarchy tend to be more specialized or specific, for example, there might be a newsgroup
under the Big Eight which contains discussions about children's books, but a group in the
alt hierarchy may be dedicated to one specific author of children's books. Binaries are
posted in alt.binaries.*, making it the largest of all the hierarchies.
Many other hierarchies of newsgroups are distributed alongside these. Regional and
language-specific hierarchies such as japan.*, malta.* and ne.* serve specific regions
such as Japan, Malta and New England. Companies such as Microsoft administer their own
hierarchies to discuss their products and offer community technical support. Some users
prefer to use the term "Usenet" to refer only to the Big Eight hierarchies;
others include alt as well. The more general term "netnews" incorporates the
entire medium, including private organizational news systems.
Looking for something in particular? Find it here!
